Am I a Writer or an Author?

Following on from B.L Daniels‘ and K.M Allan’s blogs, I thought I’d give my own take on whether I’m a writer or an author.

I would say I’m neither. At parties for instance we define ourselves by what we do for a living. If somebody asks me ‘What do you do?’, I would reply that I’m a medical secretary and that I write books for a hobby. People say they are plumbers, electricians, computer programmers, engineers, hairdressers, or personal trainers for example, because the money earned from these jobs pay all the bills.

How can I define myself as a writer if all I’ve earned since January is £296.92? How can anybody live on that?

I like to write, and would happily stop being a medical secretary if I sold more books. However, as far as I can tell, my books are being pirated by illegal websites (I receive notifications from Google most days with a link to another of my ‘free’ books) and there’s not much I can do about it without parting with large amounts of cash that I do not have. Sales are falling from 1142 in 2015 to only 642 last year, and I’m seriously considering having 4 months off from writing and blogging to enjoy the summer. I think I’ve ‘peaked’!

It seems to me that the whole world has jumped on the author bandwagon. Every day Amazon adds hundreds of thousands more books to its sites. We bloggers are falling over each other as we all try to get our blogs and books out in front. We’re all riding that train where we have to think up blogs to keep our name out there, so all the same tired author advice gets blogged and re-blogged ad nauseum day after day. But hey, in reality, who cares whether our names are out there or not?

It’s got to the point where everybody is super- busy writing and blogging, desperate to be heard above the white noise, and terrified to leave a blog unattended for even a day. But in reality, does anybody actually read our well-thought-out blogs the whole way through or just tick the ‘like’ box at the end? This whole author/writer situation is becoming farcical because there are just too many fish in the sea, so to speak. No, I’m not depressed about it, just a bit disillusioned I suppose.

I’m a realist who jumped on this out-of-control train late in life, well after the self-publishing explosion where even the most slushiest book at the bottom of an agent’s pile was able to be published and promoted. I should have been doing all this when I was in my twenties, but I didn’t have a lot of life experiences to write about then!

I think the best thing we aspiring authors can do is to carry on with the day job, because that earns us the money to pay for editors or book covers etc. Unless we can afford to give up the aforementioned day job, then I cannot see how anybody can call themselves either a writer or an author. We write for a hobby and for the pleasure of seeing our words in print. Everybody can do this if they try and it seems like everybody does, but all this doesn’t make me a writer. It makes me a medical secretary who writes novels for a hobby. Time passes quickly when I write and slowly when I type clinic letters, so it’s obvious which one I prefer doing, but typing clinic letters is where the money is at the moment.

Yeah, expect long gaps from me during the summer, starting from 22nd June when I’ll be over at the Isle of Wight festival or sitting on the decking of my holiday home. There’s more to life than sitting at a computer trying to shriek with one vocal cord above a discordant symphony of white noise.

There’s too much romanticism attached to being a writer. The reality is hard graft and endless rejections by agents who have read it all before. Only a lucky few can break through the barrier and become published by one of the big five.

What do you think? Do you define yourself as a writer even though you earn your living doing something else?

72 thoughts on “Am I a Writer or an Author?”

I think an author is a specific type of writer. You can be writer/journalist, writer/poet, writer/biographer etc.

There are too many writers if you’re a writer, but never enough if you’re a reader. I would have given up this game a long time ago if I wasn’t having so much fun writing my stories and whilst I’d love to earn a living from writing if I never sell another book I’d still enjoy the next project or reading back what I’ve read.

For me, a day without creating something is a day wasted, and like you my job pays for my interest so I’ll keep going.

look on the bright side. Because I’m not making any money out of it, I’m obviously a genuine artist. If I was popular and sold great heaps of books then obviously I would be a sell-out who was prostituting my art 😉

There again I do feel I ought to have a chance to prove that being unfeasibly wealthy wouldn’t spoil me 😉

I’m a writer. I have one self-published novel and another on the way. But, like you, I agree about the “too many fish theory.” I don’t have the money to invest in marketing and ads nor do I have the time. I go back and forth between going full force thinking I need an “Author FB Page” and countless social media accounts all for exposure. But to what ends? Will I sell a million books? Definitely not. I’ll be lucky to sell 100! LOL I’d rather spend the time writing and telling stories. I’m not a quitter, but I am a realist. And I have a family and kids to support, so I can’t be spending my time and money on a “definite maybe.” What’s a writer to do? Right?

Well said, it is something I have grown to accept over the last year as well. So, I too, write as a hobby and now put my work online for free since I hate submitting to the slush pile. Chewing my nails for months to hear nothing! Even if I have only two visits to my website a day, I still enjoy the small thrill it gives me when I upload. Guess it’s the same as adrenaline junkies, we just use words rather than diving gear. And we get hit in the face by agents rather than the cement

I think you deserve a break Stevie and hope that you enjoy it and come back refreshed ..I am retired and late to writing and if asked I simply say I write…I haven’t made a great deal from either Anthology’s but I enjoy writing and am lucky to be able to spend a little more time than someone who still works. I still get overwhelmed though at times so I just take my camera and go for a walk to clear my head. I really don’t think I could have worked, blogged and wrote a novel so I admire all those who do including you 🙂 x

Stevie, I can understand your disillusionment with writing and blogging and when something that is supposed to bring pleasure becomes a chore it is time for a vacation. Enjoy your time off this summer and I hope you will return to writing and blogging in the fall full of fresh enthusiasm.

I was immediately captivated by the title of this post, and then sighing with happiness as I read you so eloquently state the exact frustrations I have been feeling. The self promotion required to try to climb above the white noise is beyond me, and I am very frustrated with link parties where my fellow bloggers put up posts with so little or such poor content I would never consider reposting them. I am very new to this whole game of blogging, but already think it may be time to just write for myself, print it off, and hope the kids read it after I am gone.

I appreciate reading all of the comments here too, since knowing I am not alone is really making me happy at the moment. I love your way of discribing what you do, but with all of those books to your credit, I think it would be perfectly honest to say you are a medical secretary AND an author. While I have not read your books, you crafted this blog post with honesty, correct spelling and grammar and it was a joy to read, which seems to be more than many bloggers manage. Enjoy your break and thank you for this post!

If you write seriously (as opposed to just dinking around with it), in my book you’re a writer. It’s not about earning your living that way. But that doesn’t mean it’s the thing you tell people when they ask what you do, because the unspoken part of that is “for a living.” Writing’s about writing, not what you tell people.

Every person is a potential writer, which is not a synonym of genius like Shakespeare. As soon as we start writing we become writers for this mere action, even if it is a hobby, a passion and a therapy (I think the three are interconnected) beside the job we earn money with. I fully understand people who feel frustration because they would much prefer to earn a living with writing than with a job they do not like. I am lucky because I love my part-time job, I do not have children and my writing attempts are just to fulfill the three aforementioned things: hobby, passion and therapy (the latter is very important). In this respect, having no literary ambitions as to wanting to earn money with this I do not fear rejection because I have no pressure. But I understand very well your situation, Stevie, and that of people I am very close to. In fact, I do believe every single artist-writer deserves to be given an opportunity to come out of a permanent invisibility. I once wrote a humble poetry attempt about this: https://momentsbloc.wordpress.com/2016/11/01/a-raindrop-in-your-desert/

The real tragedy, as I have experienced recently, is to pick up a professionally edited book published by a major that is junk. Not just formulaic junk. Junk. Sentence structure that’s questionable on more than one occasion, dialogue that reeks of C grade screenwriting call and response. Plot holes you could lose a metro bus in. I mean stuff just flat out ignored that three chapters ago was a big deal, a red herring to rival Moby Dick, and yet who really drowned in the lake is never discussed because the heroine (of sorts) is back among us. I mean — Crap.
And the bit about all this social media nonsense? A good deal of WordPress has become the album version, complete with drum solo, of FB BS. My life as a chef disguised as a busboy. Or very short sentences about breathing and brushing your teeth with some Beat poser thrown in, 438 likes in 20 minutes. “I feel it, man. Been there.” What, you got out of bed, bought expensive coffee, watched dogs procreating and went home to be bored?
No way. No one will see what we write, regardless of quality so it might be time to chcuk it in, write for the hell of it and leave it on the hard drive. Cause nobody’s paying any attention out here.

It’s worth remembering that many of the people who are published by the big five and get nominated for prestigious awards also don’t earn enough to make a decent living from their books alone – even when they have several under their belt. They supplement their incomes with teaching and/or writing columns and book reviews for magazines and newspapers.
I am fortunate in that my main income comes from several pensions contributed to during my career as an Engineer. I don’t make anything like as much ass you from my writing.
I recent article on Goodreads describes how Penguin promoted the second book from an award winner over a period of nine months before its release. It was offered as an object lesson in how to do it, but it was totally unrealistic for any ordinary self-pubber to undertake (whilst also writing!)
And, I do read and enjoy most of your blog posts so will miss you when you take your well earned summer break.

Perfectly stated.
That’s EXACTLY what writing is now.
I used to think it sounded a bit bitter, but it’s true: only celebrities and established authors make money. The golden age of writing ended in the eighties I think.

I once had notions of making money but that very quickly disappeared in the face of reality, and now my expectations are lowered significantly, and I’m happy if my friends or blogging amigos want to read anything I put out, book or blog post.

EVERYONE is writing also which makes it near impossible for anyone to get noticed. And i mean everything from twitter writing to blogs and books. Writing has never been so devalued and crashed so hard since the early 2000s and won’t recover.

I see countless twitter ‘authors’ with 30k followers – who cares lol it makes no difference.
Book piracy is common place. Kindle and Amazon although great for many reasons also killed the majority of writers chances of making coin.
You or I could write the best book ever written and still not crack the top100 or even make much money off it, certainly nothing more than pocket change.
It’s shit, but reality…

And the romantic idea of being a writer has well and truly been blown away. Writing a book for no or very little monetary comeback almost seems stupid if we didn’t enjoy the process, but the long haul from first write to final edit and finished product is extremely time consuming on a level people who haven’t written a book before don’t comprehend. And is the effort worth it?
Well as we enjoy writing yes in a hobbyesque way, but beyond that it’s absurd luck to get anything else out of it.

I’ll echo K.M. Allan’s sentiments and say I read the whole post and clicked Like because I really enjoyed it. Thanks for expanding upon the conversation about this topic. You and I seem to share a mindset, as I’ve written about the copious volume of “noise” that today’s authors (both self and traditionally published) have to cut their way through.

I started as a self-published author, but eventually shifted my path over to traditional when I saw how daunting the “post-writing” workload is for self-published authors. I have the utmost respect for everyone who can commit that sort of effort, but it’s not for me. Not that traditional publishing is some kind of silver bullet. I’ve had some stuff published, but nothing to make a lifestyle out of.

Unfortunately, I’ve also been on the receiving end of having my work pirated, and it sucks.

The good news is, as long as you have a passion to write, which you clearly do, it will always be somewhere in you. Mine ebbs and flows, but it never fully exits.

I sense a little disillusionment here Stevie. I agree with much of what you’ve said here, except that you are a writer. One doesn’t have to make a living at writing to call themselves a writer. Many of the greats starved for years and were still writers. Yes, it’s a huge pool of books out there and yes, I often feel the overwhelming of living on the computer. But when we temporarily lose the passion (and we all do), it’s time to take a break and it seems you’re going to do just that. Then you will be refreshed and come right back to it, cuz it’s what we do. 🙂

huh, I never really thought about it that way. I was always curious about how exactly books are sold if your name isn’t already put there (kind of like how youtubers are becoming best sellers). Thanks for this interesting piece!

You might, but from what I’ve seen it’s extremely hard to get a following. I mean there’s a reason you see ‘ppl cementing their head in a microwave’ on the telly j’know? It takes more effort than most are willing to put in (hence the shock effect ppl go for as easy views) but, hey, doesn’t hurt to try right? Gotta start somewhere. Collaborating helps alot tho on any platform. i mean, john green and david levithan wrote a book together, so maybe have a look into that method too.

Your post made me think about my own situation. I am and always will be a writer. Thanks to the ease of self publishing I can now call myself an author, even if there’s little money involved. I’m still nervous telling people what I do, and I hate all the self promo that’s needed to maybe make a few sales. I was just telling my husband yesterday how my emotions are like a yoyo, sometimes its so hard to cope with the pressure of trying to get noticed.
I think a break from it all is a great idea. Once my next book is published I’ll be taking a break from blogging so I can focus on the thing I love most – creating stories.
Enjoy your break, the Isle of Wight and the festival!

As I said I just tell people I write for a hobby, as in my opinion I should be selling more books before I can call myself a writer. Yes a break is a good thing, and I’m looking forward to mine – free from the pressure of trying to get noticed. I’m a bit cheesed off with it all at the moment.

I tend to agree with David, Stevie. You are both a writer and an author in addition to being a medical secretary. My primary income comes from being a chartered accountant but that doesn’t make me less of a writer. We do it because we love to write and, while there are many frustrations, that is the bottom line. We can’t help ourselves [smile]. PS Nothing wrong with a break though.

I am a writer, I am also a blogger, and a book swallower. I haven’t published anything. And I haven’t decided if I am going to publish anything. The market is getting tougher to make money, but I will tell you to never sell yourself short. Never stop believing in who you are or doing what you love. Your book has reached people. Self promoting is hard, almost another job in itself. But you’re doing it and that is amazing!

Thanks. It’s not really possible for most people to earn much money from writing, but I realised that a long time ago. I’m just a bit cheesed off with the self-promotion thing at the moment as it all seems so pointless. Not sure if I’m the only one who thinks like that?

I can’t agree with you Stevie. For me a writer is anyone who takes the time to create something even if it’s only for their own entertainment. Someone who jots down a story to tell their children at night.
An author is someone who gets that story published either by one of the big 5 or by self publishing.Self publishing doesn’t make them less an author because the big 5 didn’t pick them up. JK Rowling and others have been turned down by the big 5 at some point and no-one would argue her worth as an author or the quality of her work. I have read some great self pub books and some awful published ones. It’s a matter of luck very often if your book takes off and/or perseverence with the promotions. I know a lot of self pub authors are uncomfortable with self promotion but I don’t think it makes them less an author than someone who makes a living writing.
You might earn your living as a medical secretary but you wrote a book so you’re a writer and published it so you’re an author. It’s just a matter of luck whether your book takes off and it doesn’t detract from the quality as many renowned authors could testify.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx

Just so you know, Stevie, I did read this all the way through and pressed “like” at the end because I genuinely liked it 😊. I think if you’re a writer or a blogger who hasn’t had these exact thoughts at some point then you aren’t looking at the realities of being a writer nowadays. Everyone is trying to be a writer, and thanks to self-publishing and free blog hosting, they can be. That doesn’t mean there isn’t true talent out there, or that you can’t “make it”, but if you’re expecting to be easily heard through the din, this post sums it up perfectly. I’m sorry to hear that your stuff is being pirated. That sucks 😕. I love your honesty about what it’s like to “keep up” with writing and think it’s refreshing. All the best with enjoying what sounds like a well deserved break.